At first we were unsure if all the balsam had already been bashed by another volunteer group as we arrived to piles hung from trunks here, there and everywhere. Once we moved a bit further into the undergrowth we found an abundance of red rooted aliens to pull! Unfortunately they seemed to be surrounded by an impenetrable wall of nettles too so we had to carefully pull around them while also getting pestered by mosquitoes despite a good soaking in bug spray beforehand. It wasn't long before we had made a good dent and were ready to head off. Before that though we had quite the scare pulling a furry thing from the undergrowth that the balsam had grown into. It turned out to be a teddy bear and not a previously alive furry thing fortunately. Giorgio Beverley Hills bear was actually a bit of an antique as came from 1998. Selling for £9.72 on Ebay in mint condition but alas our Giorgio was very much not in mint condition and did in fact have balsam growing out his head and a host of worms and bugs!

Tonight we were in charge of cleaning and packing away all the things from the Colour Run the day before. We quickly got to work organising a box for resuable items, checking and refilling the "useful" event boxes, and wiping down the tables. Ashleigh upon discovering a wheel had broken on the trolley set out with great determination to fix it. It was no easy feat and she had to call Lucy in as reinforcements. After some work with a hammer, a glue gun and some tape the wheel was back on. Unfortunately it did not pass the "Can you support a whole human" test. So they had to start all over again! I can confirm the wheel is now back on but we wouldn't recommend an heavy loads at the front of the trolley or any bumpy ground!

Tonight we were blessed with an indoor task due to the downpours. Our task: stock take and organise the drink and snack cupboards after a very busy open day for the farm. Lucy and Ashleigh tackled the front of house while the rest of us started sorting the drinks into categories. We then had some careful planning to ensure everything fit back into the cupboards neatly and so it would be quick to access. We discovered Dr Pepper is the most popular drink and you can never have too many Jaffa Cakes!

We were very excited to visit Cedar school for the first time to help them make their gardening area a bit tidier and more accessible for the pupils. We cut back some overgrown trees and pushed back some soil to make a clear walkway around the greenhouse. We also moved spare equipment and rubbish out the way to remove any trip hazards. We had a little time left for weeding one of the raised beds and sweeping before packing up to go home. We hope to go back soon so we can help in the forest school area.